Bow-facing oar.



V. BENSEN.

BOW FAGING OAR.

APPLICATION HLED Dnc, a, 1913.

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THE Nmewls PETER Co.. pHoro-HTML44 WASH/NGION. D r;

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BOW-FACING OAR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 23, 1215..

Application nled December 3, 1913. Serial No. 8011,451.

To all 'whom it may concern.'

Be it known that 1, Vieron BnNsnN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Duluth, in the county of St. Louis and State of Minnesota, have invented new and useful Improvements in Bow-Facing Gars, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to oars for row boats and in particular to a bow-facing oar, that is, an oar which may be operated to propel the boat in the direction in which the oarsman is facing. By the use of such an oar, a person may row a boat and be able to look to the front at all times and thus avoid collisions, owing to the fact that he can steer the boat accurately and has a full view of the course.

The primary object of the invention is to provide an oar of this character which 1s simple in construction and comprises very few parts in order that the device may be taken apart for the purpose of repair or cleaning, which is compact in form and durable, and whose gearing is mounted in a neat and unobstructive casing which is waterproof so as to protect these parts of the oar and permit proper lubrication of the same.

rlhe invention consists in the features of construction, combination, and arrangement of parts, hereinafter fully described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary plan view of a boat, showing an oar constructed in accordance with the invention mounted thereon, one position of the oar being shown in full lines and another position being shown in dotted lines; Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view through a portion of the boat showing the oar in side elevation; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken vertically through the oar; Fig. f1 is a longitudinal, horizontal sectional view through the same; and, Fig. is a transverse sectional view through a portion of the boat, showing the oar in fragmentary side elevation with a modified form of device used therewith for attaching the oar to the boat.

ln the drawing, the numeral 1 designates the gunwale of a boat upon which the oar is mounted by means of the attaching bracket 2. rllhis bracket is constructed preferably in the form of a bifurcated member whose legs 3 are adapted to embrace the wale and to be secured in a vertical position thereon by means of the cleats 4 or in any other suitable manner. The body 5 of the oar, which is in the form of a horizontally split, flat casing, having its ends rounded as at 6, is provided upon its end face with transversely alining brackets 7 in which a pivot pin 8 is mounted, this pin being Journaled in the bearing head 9 provided upon the bracket 2. llhe casing 5 is thus mounted for vertical swinging movement.

As stated previously, the casing is horizontally split to provide the superimposed sections 10 and 11, which are secured together by means of the detachable bolt members 12. rFliese sections are provided with registering, cylindrical recesses 13 adjacent to the opposite ends thereof, which are intercommunicating and-which are adapted to have the intel-meshing gear wheels 14 and 15 mounted therein. Each gear wheel is provided in its opposite end faces with annular recesses 16 which are adapted to fit over the annular bearing ridges 17 which are formed on the inner faces of the casing members concentric with the respective recesses 13 therein. The bearing enlargements 17 surround the circular bearing openings 18 which are provided in the casing members for the reception of the shafts 19 and 20, which latter are keyed to the gear wheels 14 and 15 respectively. rlhe upper ends of the shafts 19 and 20 protrude outwardly from the upper casing member andare constructed non-circular in transverse section as at 21 and 22 for reception within the noncircular openings 23 and v24e provided terminally in the offset arms 25 and 26 respectively of the socket members 27 and 28. The parts of the device which have just been described are constructed preferably of metal such as iron, brass, or aluminum. rlhe loom or handle 29 of the oar is constructed of wood, however, and is detachably secured within the socket member 27 by means of the attaching bolts 30 and, owing to the fact that the arm 25 is offset, the said handle will be disposed with its longitudinal axis in the plane of the meeting faces of the casing sections. The bolt portion 31 of the oar is secured by means of the attaching bolts 32 to the socket 28. rThe said blade portion is thus disposed in the plane of movement of the handle.

Any suitable form of packing may be employed to afford a water-tight joint between the casing sections, whereby the entrance of the several figures of drawing. Y

water, which would Yrust the gearing, is prevented. An oil opening, such as that indicated by the numeral 33 may be provided in the top of the casing so that lubricating oil may be introduced from time to time to insure smooth operation of the -gears and further prevent rusting or wear of the same.

The mode of operation lof an oar constructed in accordance with the invention "should be obvious in view` of the showing in In F ig. 5, a modified form of means for Vattaching the oar to the boatgunwale is disclosed. In this instance, a single vertical pin 34 has its bearing head 35 operatively .associated withv the pivot pin 8 and is mounted Within 'a socket provided in the gunwale, so as to mount the casing 5 of the oar for vertical oscillatory movement. This, as well as many other modifications `falling within the scope of the appended claims may be resorted to in practice if found necessary.

'Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. bow-facing oar comprising an elongated s'plit casing including superimposed sections, detachable means for securing the said sections together, the said sections being provided VVwith intereominunicating sets of registering recesses for the reception of a Y pair of intermeshingjgears, the said casing sections being provided with sets of circular,

alining openings communicating concentrically with the respective recesses, shafts ,secured fiXedly to the said gears'and being .rotatably mounted within the said Vcasing openings, a handle connected ixedly to the outer end of one of the said shafts,a'blade ixedl'y connected with the outer end of the opposite shaft, kan attaching member pivotprovided with intercoininunicating sets of registering recesses for the reception of a pair ofinte'rmeshing gears, the said casing sections being provided with sets of circular, alining openings communicating concentrically with the respective recesses, shafts secured Xedly to the said gears and being ro` tatably mounted within the said casing openings, a handle connected iixedly to the outer end of one of the said shafts, a blade fixedly connected with the outer end of the oppositev shaft, an attaching member pivotally mounting the said casing for verticalswinging movement, the said gears being provided in their opposite end faces with annular'recesses, and annular bearing ridges formed upon the casing sections Within their respective recesses surrounding the shaft openings for engagement within the gear recesses, the top section of the casing being provided medially with a lubricant opening.

In testimony whereof I aiiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

VICTOR BENSEN.

Vitnesses C. A. TnANson, FRANK PETERSON.

"biesof this patent may be'obtained for five cents eah, by addressing the Commissioner o! ratents. Wash1ngton,-D.'C. 

